Rhode Island's Pediatric Practice Enhancement Project

Rhode Island’s Pediatric Practice Enhancement Project (PPEP) trains and places parent consultants into pediatric primary and specialty care practices to help families with children and youth with special health care needs coordinate and access the health system, as well as other services (e.g., social services, education, housing). Parent consultants, who are parents of special needs children themselves, assist physicians in providing comprehensive, coordinated medical homes to about 8 percent of children with special needs in the state (more than 2,800). A PPEP database, managed by the state’s Department of Health, helps identify systemwide barriers facing families. A recent evaluation suggests that PPEP participants have more outpatient encounters but fewer inpatient admissions and less intensive resource use than children with special needs who are not in PPEP practices.

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